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EastEnders
EastEnders has its own Fandom site EastEnders Wikia. EastEnders is a British television soap opera, which made its debut in United Kingdom on February 19, 1985, and continues airing to this day. Besides its run in the UK, EastEnders would also be seen on some US PBS stations (the episodes would be from a couple of years back) over the years. The earliest episodes are also shown on the UK specialty channel, Drama. One of the longer running soaps in the UK; it celebrates its 35th anniversary in 2020, EastEnders' storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End of London. The series primarily centers around the residents of Albert Square, a Victorian square of terraced houses, and its neighboring streets, namely Bridge Street, Turpin Road and George Street, and which encompasses a pub, street market, night club, community center, café and various small businesses, in addition to a park and allotments. Background EastEnders focuses on the lives of the many various families who live and work in Albert Square, a fictional neighborhood in the equally fictitious borough of Walford in London's East End. The original family unit in the series was the Fowler and Beale families, who were related. Also seen frequently were the Watts and Wicks families. The Beale/Fowler family was led by stubborn and opinionated widowed matriarch, Louise Beale (Anna Wing) who had several children. The children who were featured most prominently were her youngest offspring, fraternal twins Pete (Peter Dean) and Pauline Fowler (the late Wendy Richard of Are You Being Served? fame). Later on, for a brief time, their older brother, Kenny, along with his daughter, Elizabeth, came from New Zealand and joined the family fold. They would later leave again to go back to New Zealand. They had four other siblings, Harry, Ronnie (both brothers were deceased when the series began); Dora and Maggie. Maggie (later revealed as Maggie McDermott) was later revealed to have been a part of their family as she had been adopted after Lou had her out-of-wedlock. Lou and her busband, Albert, were the parents. Pauline would meet her sister and her Irish family in 1991, and for a time, Maggie's son Conor McDermott and her granddaughter, Mary, would also live in the Square. Pete, who ran the fruit and vegetable stall in the square's open-air street market (the stall was ALWAYS parked right next to the pub), which had belonged to Albert (which had been passed down from his own father), was married (his second) to the former Kathy Hills (Gillian Taylforth), who began as a barmaid and would later own the community's cafe, and they had a son named Ian (Adam Woodyatt), who wanted to become a chef/caterer. It would be later revealed that Kathy would also have a daughter named Donna Ludlow (Matilda Ziegler), who had been conceived after she had been raped. The luckless Donna would later become horribly addicted to heroin and would die of a drug overdose. Pete's sister, Pauline was married to the somewhat loutish but lovable Arthur Fowler (Bill Treacher), who had proposed to her when she had been sick in bed with the flu, to cheer her up after missing out on her elder sister, Dora's wedding (which was a mercy, as the ceremony was a disaster due to Dora and her fiance's brazen deceit); and, when the series began, had two teenage children. Their children were oldest son, Mark (David Scarboro; Todd Carty), a teenage tearaway who had been connected with the villainous Nick Cotton (John Altman), the show's first primary antagonist, and his younger sister, Michelle (Susan Tully; Jenna Russell), a sullen secondary school student who had her own share of troubles. Pauline was pregnant with her third child when the series began. She would later give birth to her son, Martin Fowler, who would be the first child born on EastEnders. At first, Lou was appalled with the idea of Pauline, who was pushing 40, having a baby at her age, and ordered her to have an abortion or else she and her family would be evicted from the house. Lou would constantly throw the eviction threat out at her family in order for her to get what she wanted. On the occasions she didn't get her way, she would storm upstairs with a whiny "I'm goin' to me bedroom!" Usually, she would also call family meetings and issue edicts to keep her family in line. Sometimes, her interference would grate on everyone's nerves, especially Kathy, who had often rowed with Lou, especially when the latter would moan on and on about how Pete's other sons (or so was thought at the time) never came over to see her. However, she was secretly pleased, as it would have been another Fowler to boss around. Having been won over by a trip to Clacton, Lou fell in love with the baby as did everyone else. Currently, Martin, now grown, along with Ian and Kathy, comprise one of the few connections to the earlier Fowler years. The person who currently holds the family together is Martin's teenage daughter, Rebecca (Jasmine Armfield), who is now called "Bex". In a lot of ways, Bex will continue being the glue that holds the family close, following in the footsteps of her great-grandmother, Lou; her grandmother, Pauline; and her aunt Michelle, although she also has the strength and strong will of her mother, Sonia Jackson (Natalie Cassidy). Not long after Pauline revealed her pregnancy, Michelle was found to be pregnant herself, by the landlord of the Queen Victoria (commonly called the Queen Vic) pub, Dennis Watts (the late Leslie Grantham). The Vic, as it was familiarly known, was the local free house (it was once owned by the fictitious Luxford and Copley brewery) and considered to be the main hub for the square and its residents. Invariably, much of the show's major revelations, fights, and/or celebrations (such as wedding receptions, memorial services; special musical events, etc.) would take place at the Vic, which kind of served as the de facto community center. Dennis, aptly nicknamed, Den or Dirty Den (a name given by the UK tabloids), was the adopted father of Michelle's long-time best friend, Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean). He was married to Angie Watts (Anita Dobson), who was often drunk, because of his continuous womanizing. The sleazy publican had a mistress named Jan Hammond (Jane Howe), whom he often spent too much time with, which caused the frustrated Angie, in retaliation, to flirt with every man in Walford. His own infidelities notwithstanding, Den coldly served divorce papers on Angie (at Christmas, no less)! This would immediately set the stage for a long-standing tradition of major and story-changing situations/fights/disasters occurring during the Christmas season. Besides the usual Christmas season upheavals, surprise birthday parties often ended being disastrous failures (similar to Mary Richards' parties always ending up being miserable failures on the Mary Tyler Moore Show). Later on, after having thought to have been killed by the notorious criminal organization, The Firm (he burned down the Dagmar, a wine bar, after the owner raped Kathy Beale, who was an old friend of his), Den would return to the square and he would be married to businesswoman Chrissie (Tracy-Ann Oberman). It would be the scheming Chrissie who would truly kill Dennis with a dog-shaped doorstop; although she would try to frame Samantha Mitchell (Daniella Westbrook) and Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) for the crime. Michelle would give birth to a little girl named Victoria Louise, called Vicki by all. Vicki, who would become a slightly troublesome girl, due to the blatant favoritism against her by Den (in favor of her adopted half-sister, Sharon), would be played as a teenager by Scarlett Alice Johnson. Because of her living in America, Vicki has an American accent, which had, inexplicably, became more British. It had been explained that since she was living around London more, she would pick up on the accent. Michelle would later remarry a man named Tim Andrews during her time in the US, and she would give birth to a son named Mark, named after her brother who would die of HIV. However, it was later revealed that Mark Jr. (Ned Porteus) was the son of her greatest arch-enemy, Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp), who had been married to her friend, Sharon. Mark had been conceived from a one night fling between Grant and Michelle, who were mortal enemies (due to his shabby treatment of Sharon). Mark told Sharon he knows who his father is, and Sharon confirmed it. She however, advises Mark to not get involved with Grant. He agrees to this and leaves Walford to go back to the States with his mother and Tim, the man he always considered his father. Vicki is said to be currently living in Sydney, Australia (which perhaps allowed her to get an Aussie accent with her British and American accents) with her boyfriend, Spencer Moon, the brother of Alfie Moon (Shane Ritchie), a long time stalwart of the area; and Mark, after the aforementioned time of visiting Walford, returned to the States, where he currently lives with the man whom he knew as his father, Tim, in Pensacola, Florida. He has a girlfriend, and is happy. Some twenty-one years after she left Walford for good, Michelle would later return, where she would attempt to follow the steps of her mother and grandmother in being the matriarch of the Fowler family. She had a lot of baggage ofher own to deal with, QUITE a bit. It was revealed that she had had an illegal affair with a seventeen-year-old student, Preston Cooper (Martin Anzor), while a teacher of English Literature. It is clear to make note that it was Preston who initiated the affair, and not Michelle. It was due to this that Mark was not speaking to his mother, as she had broken Florida law. In one of the most noxious displays of a scoundrel playing off someone's jealousy, Preston mercilessly used Michelle's own niece, Bex, to make the former jealous, and their whole relationship was exposed, thanks to Dennis Rickman, Jr. and Louise Mitchell. The fallout from this left Michelle shattered, Preston sent ignominiously back to the States and Bex hurt and vulnerable once again. She would leave again in 2018, going to visit Vicki and Spencer in Australia. Many different families came and went, but the most stable of the families over the years were the Fowlers; the Mitchells; the Slaters and the Brannings. Ownership of the Queen Vic had shifted many times over the years that the series has been on the air, (originally it was Den and Angie, who were the landlords when the series began, but they would sell to shifty car dealer Frank Butcher {Mike Reid} and his second wife Pat) but it was usually synonymous with the imperious Peggy Mitchell (originally played by Jo Warne; but later made famous by actress Barbara Windsor), who, when she was crossed, would yell, "Get outta my pub! (this was considered to be Peggy's catch-phrase)" The Mitchells, who arrived in the square in 1990, were originally just Phil (Steve McFadden) Grant (Ross Kemp) and their sister, Samantha (Daniella Westbrook, later Kim Medcalfe). The more level-headed Phil would marry Kathy Beale (with whom she would give birth to a son, Ben); while the often violent Grant was married to Sharon. However, Phil and Sharon would have an affair (which followers of the show would dub "Sharongate") which destroyed their blood ties. However, years later, they would be reconciled when they assisted Ian in rescuing his sons, Steven and Peter, from his ex-wife, Cindy. Meanwhile, over time, Phil would become as violent as his brother, if not worse than he ever was! He would be involved with Mark Fowler's wife, Lisa Shaw (Lucy Benjamin), and she would give birth to a daughter named Louise (named after Mark's late maternal grandmother, Lou). Despite the fact that Phil is Louise's birth dad; Mark was legally her father, as he had been married to Lisa. Lisa's love -hate relationship with Phil culminated in her shooting him, not once, but TWICE! They have gotten together, as they have Louise in common, but they still have no liking for one another. Years later, he would become a crack addict (exacerbated by his alcoholism), and would be hauled up and locked in a living room by his family. A frequent (and somewhat comedic) presence in the square is Dot Branning (June Brown). Dot was Pauline's long-time co-worker and friend at the local launderette. She was pious, and quite moralistic, although she was also a very heavy chain-smoker. She had been widowed by scheming lorry driver, Charlie Cotton (who was a bigamist), and was the mother of Nick. Nick Cotton! Nasty Nick! A nastier piece of work never existed! He was just all around evil. He would dabble in pimping; leading people like Lofty Holloway and Mark Fowler into rabid neo-nazi politics; indulge in vandalism, blackmail, thieving and even murder. It would be revealed that Nick had murdered pensioner Reg Cox in the first story. He would also later murder Eddie Royle, a later Queen Vic landlord, But his hatred was reserved for his mother, whom he used, abused and hurt with impunity. He would attempt to kill Dot numerous times for her money, which he would use for his raging heroin addiction. He would have a son named Ashley, but the poor kid wouldn't last himself. He also had a daughter called Dotty, who was no better than her despicable father. Ashley was killed when he, egged on by his father, was riding Mark Fowler's bike (which Nick had cut the brake lines to) and crashed into the window of the Launderette. This was a crime where Dot couldn't forgive Nick at all, and she wrathfully banished him out of Walford. He would return one more time, and he would eventually die when his years of heroin abuse would finally catch up to him. Interestingly, he would die in the same flat in which he killed Reg Cox. He would be found by Martin Fowler, his wife, Stacey and his friend, Kush Kazemi. Dot would later remarry the recently widowed Jim Branning (John Bardon), (much to Nick's disgust, but by this time, she couldn't have cared a toss for what he thought) and would become stepmother to his children, Derek, Carol, April, Suzy, Max and Jack. She also became the grandmother to their children, Bianca Jackson, Billie Jackson; Robbie Jackson and Sonia Jackson as well as to their great grandchildren, Lauren Branning, Abi Branning, Bex Fowler (Sonia was her mother) and Oscar Branning among others. Also joining the family was Max's on again/off again wife, Tanya Cross (Jo Joyner) and her often imperious mother, Cora (Ann Mitchell). Later joining was Rainie Cross (Tanya Franks), Cora's younger daughter and Tanya's sister who had a huge (and sometimes raging) crack habit (it was Rainie who hooked Phil on Crack). Max and Jack had a relationship similar to the Mitchells. Jack would also fall for his former sister in-law, Tanya (which was given tit-for-tat when Max married Rainie!). Jack would also be involved with Sharon Mitchell, but hhe would find his true love in Ronnie Mitchell. Others in the square include Pat Evans (Pam St Clement), a formerly loose and many times married woman. Arriving in 1986, almost a year after the show began, she immediately caused no end of trouble for those she was related to. According to her backstory, she was revealed to have been from Walford, but had been living in Romford, after she had been driven out of Walford. She was once married to Pete Beale (it was later revealed that she had married Pete because the true love of her life, Frank Butcher would not divorce his wife), but had an affair with Pete's brother, Kenny (which caused both of them to be driven out; Kenny to New Zealand, and Pat to Romford); and had been separated from a man named Brian Wicks. Brian, who had been known to knock Pat around, was proven to be the father of her now-grown son, Simon "Wicksy" Wicks (Nick Berry). At first, it had been thought that Simon was Pete's son. Pat and Pete were the parents of her older son, David, but he had been adopted by Brian Wicks, not long after Pat had married him. After many and various trials and tribulations, she would later become of the stalwarts of the square until her death (she and Peggy were often frenemies, palling around one minute, while rowing the next). One person who made Pat at her worst look like a goody two shoes, was Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks). Janine was the youngest daughter of Frank (besides being married to Pat, he had also been married to Peggy) and his late wife, June. A former prostitute and drug addict, she was also a very successful but extremely conniving businesswoman who had a tendency to anger people. To say that she was not well-liked in Walford would be a huge understatement. In fact, to know Janine was to hate her. The schemer would continually cause grief for many people on the square, due to her often money-mad nature. Mainly this was due to Frank having a blindness to the trouble she could cause (he had never been a sterling father to any of his kids as it turned out). It was also shown that Frank had a lot of times been in approval of a lot of Janine's schemes and deceits and would applaud her bad behavior, as he was rather troublemaking as well. Like her stepmother, Pat, Janine would be married numerous times. She would antagonize a lot of people in the square (she would feud with Laura Beale, one of Ian Beale's many wives, which would be fatal to her, but Janine would skate from it, after Pat was forced to give her an alibi) with no concern for the damage she would cause. She would become very wealthy (due to her being the sole beneficiary of her late maternal grandmother, Lydia Simmonds' will) although this would be tarnished as she would later be arrested for the murder of her final husband, Michael Moon (Steve John Shepherd), with whom she had a daughter named Scarlett. She was previously married to a man named Barry Evans; whose father, Roy Evans, was married to Janine's stepmother, Pat, until his death; a marriage she ended when she shoved him off a cliff to his death during their honeymoon in Scotland; and was also married to Ryan Malloy, who cheated on her with one of her most frequent arch-enemies, Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), and is the father of Stacey's oldest daughter, Lily. After Ryan left her for Stacey, which she didn't like, she would change her name to "Judith Bernstein" and fell for an elderly man named David, whom she married, mainly for his money, of course! However, this wedding was brought to a screeching halt by the formidable Pat who announced to the Jewish congregation that her name wasn't Judith Bernstein, but was Janine. To add insult to injury, Pat also announced "And she's about as Jewish as a bacon sandwich!" The revelation caused David to have a heart attack and would die in hospital. This angered Janine and she and Pat would fight about this ferociously. Meanwhile Stacey was quite troubled, as, like her mother, Jean (Gillian Wright), she had bipolar disorder which had been triggered by (who else?) Janine when she fatally hit and run her best friend, Danielle Jones (Lauren Crace). After a remarriage to Bradley Branning (they had been married before, but split due to his father, Max, sleeping with Stacey), which ended with his death (he would plunge off the roof of the Vic after thinking he had killed scheming Archie Mitchell), not to mention a stint in prison for murdering Archie; she would later marry Martin Fowler, and would give birth to their daughter, Hope. She also had a son, Arthur, named after Martin's late father (although Martin's friend, Kush Kazemi was the boy's father). She also became an excellent stepmother to Martin's teenage daughter, Bex. In one memorable melee, Stacey took the fight to the evil Janine in front of the entire square (of course). During the fight in the square's garden, Stacey slammed Janine from pillar to post for calling Social Services on her about her daughter, Lily and for her killing Danielle. Danielle was the unknown daughter of newcomer Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack) and she was the one Janine had run over in a fatal hit and run accident. Ronnie and her sister, Roxy (Rita Simons), were the female equivalent of the Mitchell Brothers, but were much more of a help (and less of a trial) to their aunt Peggy (whom they called Auntie Peg) than her own sons were. Peggy would later marry the girls' divorced father, Archie (Larry Lamb), who would cause quite a lot of trouble for the families of Walford on a massive scale. Archie, quite the villainous creature (he'd make Nasty Nick look like an angel!), would take ownership of the Vic away from Peggy (Ronnie and Roxy would side with Peggy), aided and abetted by, of course, Janine (he would callously discard her when her usefulness was done with); he would traumatize his daughters, making Ronnie miscarry her child with Jack; anger Peggy; raping Stacey; among other crimes! Janine would be imprisoned for her murder of Michael (she WOULD be revealed to have had done the dirty deed, after she found out about his relationship with Alice Branning, the daughter of the evil Derek Branning; she gladly, and gleefully, left Alice to be imprisoned for the crime), but, when she was released from prison, everyone in the square didn't have any good words to say about her. Carol Jackson and Sonia had the harshest words for the villain, and they did not mince the words. As such, she left Walford for good, but true to form, she would latch herself to a young couple who had just won the lottery. She was intent to fleece them out of their newfound wealth. Her own wealth was now gone. Other familiar faces would include Stacey's cousin, Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace), a live-life-large girl who had a lot of troubles in her life (including a rape from an uncle who would produce her daughter, Zoe, who would be raised as her sister; she would later find out Zoe had a twin brother who lived in Ireland as a Catholic priest), who would later become one of the landladies of the Queen Vic and would marry Alfie Moon and would have children of her own with him (sons, Tommy and twins Ernie and Bert); her father, Charlie (Derek Martin), the square's local cabbie; her grandmother, Mo Harris (Laila Morse), who was the former best friend and sister in-law of Pat Evans, whom she would row with on more than one occasion; Little Mo (Kacey Ainsworth), who was married to the very abusive Trevor Morgan (Alex Ferns), who would meet his deserved end in a house explosion, she would later marry Billy Mitchell and then would leave town; another sister, Belinda Peacock and their other sister, Lynne Hobbs (Elaine Lordan), who had been married to Gerry Hobbs, but would cheat on him. Also considered part of the Slater family was Jean, and her troublemaking son, Sean (Robert Kazinsky) (Jean had been married to Charlie's brother, Brian). Another long-term character is Shirley Carter (Linda Henry), one of Phil Mitchell's many paramours. She was introduced as the mother of Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) and Carly Wicks (Kellie Shirley) (having been once married to Kevin Wicks) and has had a long-time liaison with Phil, despite his relationship with Sharon Watts (after his marriage to Sharon, Shirley shot him accidentally). Also introduced was her son (although she had said at first he was her brother), Michael, called Mick (Danny Dyer); his long-time partner and later wife, Linda (Kellie Bright), their children, Lee (Danny-Boy Hatchard), Nancy (Maddy Hill) and Johnny (Sam Strike, Ted Reilly). Also coming into the mix was Linda's mother, Elaine (Maria Friedman); and their pet bulldog, Lady Di. Linda would give birth to another child, Ollie (who would have seizures after a fight between his older siblings, Lee and Nancy) and other various members of their family, including Shirley's sister, Tina (Luisa Bradshaw-White), a woman who had a daughter named Zsa Zsa (Emer Kenny). After her marriage to a man named Andy faltered, Tina would later come out as a lesbian, who had been in a violent relationship with fire fighter Fiona Mackintosh (Rebecca Scroggs), and would later become involved with the much nicer Sonia Jackson (Natalie Cassidy), the former wife of Martin Fowler and the mother of Bex. Also included was Mick's aunt, Babe Smith (Annette Badland), a bubbly woman who was also known for her blackmailing streak. Babe was a troublemaking woman who also had to deal with her sister, Shirley and Tina's mother, Sylvie Carter (Linda Marlowe) and her scheming and conniving nature against several people, including Les and Pam Coker whom she blackmailed (due to Les' cross-dressing!); Abi Branning, whom she schemed and connived with to fake a pregnancy with Ben Mitchell (Harry Reid), her old friend (he would later discover her duplicity, and wrathfully break up with Abi, and would take up with Les and Pam's grandson, Paul, whom he fell deeply in love with); and her feud with stall owner, Claudette Hubbard (Ellen Thomas). After being caught stealing from the pub by Shirley, Mick threw Babe out of the pub and his life. She would curse them, and although most of her curse was reversed, troubles would befall the Carters. The Carters would, despite all the trials, become one of the chief families in the Square. They owned the license of the Queen Vic, running it as well as the Mitchells had done in their prime, until conniving businessman, James Wilmott-Brown (William Boyde) returned to town and proceeded to make their lives miserable. However, his machinations failed, and his children, disgusted with his behavior (which included him raping Kathy Beale back in the early years of the series), gave up on their plans for revamping Albert Square called The Dagmar Project (named after Wilmott-Brown's former wine bar, The Dagmar, which had been burned down in a rage by Den Watts, in retaliation for Kathy's rape), and reinstated the Carters as the landlords of the Queen Vic (as it should be), and they left the Queen Vic and the square as it should be. In the end, the evil Wilmott-Brown died in the hospital of a heart attack, alone and unwanted. The revelation that Max Branning had been the one who set the whole Dagmar Project in motion as a result of spite (announced at Christmas, of course), nearly destroyed the Branning family completely, and his spiteful perfidy cost him every friend he ever had in the square, even Stacey, who had, until then, been his most ardent defender (and earned him a well-deserved punch in the face from an angry Kush Kazemi). In a fit of sorrow, Max tried to jump off the roof of the Queen Vic (which had been the same method which his son, Bradley, done himself in), but he was stopped by his daughters, Abi and Lauren. In a horrible turn of events, Lauren and Abi both fell off the roof. Abi was critically injured and was in a coma; while Lauren would recover, and would only have a broken leg. In hospital, Lauren, as well as her grandmother, Cora, would slap Max for his treachery. After a time, her parents, and the rest of her family, would have Abi taken off life support. Abi, who was pregnant, would have her baby delivered by caesarean section. The baby would be named Abi, after her late mother. Abi's father would be the late Steven Beale. After Abi's funeral (which Max had been banned from by a furious Cora and Tanya), Lauren, who had a massive drinking problem for a number of years, but kicked the liquor after her sister's death, would leave Walford for good. Max would marry his former sister in-law, Rainie, and tried to get custody of baby Abi. In this, they would run afoul of Cora (Ann Mitchell) and Ian, who was the grandfather (his late adopted son, Steven Beale, was the father). A very timely and relevant storyline in 2017 brought two of the show's long-term legacy families (who were connected by blood and marriage), the Mitchells and the Fowlers, together in a common cause when their daughters, cousins Louise (Tilly Keeper) and Bex were being bullied by fellow students, Alexandra D'Costa (Sydney Craven) and Madison Drake (Seraphina Beh). The jealousy-ridden girls did not like Bex (they at first liked Louise, but they would eventually turn on her and begin to bully her as well), and proceeded to make her life miserable. The two scheming girls, after seeing a fake photo of Bex being uploaded on the internet, took to attacking Bex in the bathrooms by tearing her shirt and marking her with a marker and by locking her in a store closet in the drama classroom. They also would break Bex's guitar, which would upset her. Thanks to Alexandra and Madison, Bex and Louise would end their friendship. However, thanks to Bex's microphone being on (the closet incident occurred at a talent showcase), everyone in the school heard what happened to Bex. This led to the Drama teacher, Mr. Gethin Pryce, to go into the drama room and releasing a traumatized Bex. Louise would coldly announce to Alexandra, "Bex's mike was on.......and we heard EVERYTHING!" The stunned bully was frozen as the entire audience stared at her. Louise and Bex would later patch up their friendship and gave statements to their headmistress, Mrs. Robyn Lund. She would place Alexandra and Madison to be in external exclusion from school (Suspended, as it would be called in America). At the talent showcase, Bex sang her song in front of her school, her parents and her friends. They reacted warmly (they had cheered her name to perform). Meanwhile, the end for Alexandra and Madison finally came during the prom (Alexandra and Madison were banned from attending due to their antics against Bex, but a friend of theirs, Keegan Baker, would get them in, despite said ban). Troublemaking Alexandra taunted Louise, who, along with her crush, Travis, had been named the most beautiful couple, and in a fit of jealous rage, (Alexandra believed she should have been part of the most beautiful couple, and was jealous of Louise always stealing her thunder) she shoved Louise onto a table of lit candles, which caused her dress to catch fire, and burned her severely. Despite the valiant actions of Mr. Pryce and her classmates to help cool the burns with water, and Bex being by her best friend's side, Louise was taken to Walford General Hospital, where she had to have skin grafts, due to third-degree burns she received. She would be scarred for life because of this. The police were called and Alexandra and Madison finally turned against one another. Alexandra was the more aggressive against Louise and this caused Madison to tell the police the full story. That it was Alexandra who shoved Louise. (Alexandra attempted to lie, but Madison finally told the truth which caused them to end their friendship and would almost come to blows). However, they were both arrested for GBH (grievous bodily harm) against Louise. The rest of the students berated the nasty duo (as they deserved, although Madison was now more remorseful and was in tears as she was marched out) and they would be promptly prosecuted for this crime. Meanwhile, Louise's stepmother, Sharon (she would again be married to Phil), would tell both Louise and Bex that Alexandra and Madison had been expelled from school for the bullying and the injuries they had caused to Louise. Diversity For an area like Walford, (and depicting London as a whole), diversity has always been a frequent hallmark of EastEnders. Many and varied ethnic families (The Masoods and the Kashemis for instance) have lived and were well-represented in the Albert Square area, as well as a fair-share of Anglo-African families (The Hubbards and Truemans are notable examples). Gay and lesbian characters have always been featured as well during the show's long run, with recent characters, Ben Mitchell; Johnny Carter; Sonia Jackson, Bernie Taylor; her mum, Karen Taylor; Tina Carter and recent arrival, Iqra Ahmed, being the most prominent. The first gay characters were Colin Russell, who worked as a graphic artist, and his boyfriend, Barry Clark, a barrow boy who was closeted. He was flaming gay, but was closeted to please his bigoted father. A gay marriage occurred when Pakistani Syed Masood (Marc Elliot) and Christian Clarke (John Partridge) would marry and leave Walford to move to Manchester. Christian was the out (and proud of it) brother of Jane Beale (Laurie Brett), which has him related to Ian Beale. His BFF was Roxy, whom he always was friendly with. Jane would later leave town after her friend, Tanya, revealed all the crimes that Max had committed (including the death of Steven Beale), and that he had been the reason Jane left town. Everyone was disgusted with Max's actions. Meanwhile, Syed and Christian's relationship would not meet with approval from Syed's mother, Zainab (Nina Wadia) or her husband, Masood (Nitin Ganatra). And it also did not meet with any sympathy with Syed's now former wife, Amira (Preeya Kalidas), who got into a vicious fight with Christian. However, Syed and Amira have a daughter named Yasmin, whom Christian becomes close to. After a time, though, both Masood and Zainab would later relent in their thoughts and beliefs (with Zainab even going so far as to slap a long time friend, Bushra Abbassi across the face for her slamming Syed) and would accept the pairing. When Syed and Christian were ready to leave, the entire Masood family would see the happy couple off. In 2019, Walford saw the opening of the area's first gay bar, "The Prince Albert", located in the same location where the Dagmar had been many years before, owned by Kathy Beale and their head barmaid was Tina. It serves as an equal co-partner with the established Vic. Also, Walford celebrated its first gay pride event right in the square area (specifically in the Street Market area), which helped Bernie to become happy with herself. Also, sadly, Ben Mitchell was attacked by Stuart Highway after he found out that he and his brother, Callum, had been together sexually (Callum was engaged to Whitney Dean). Also, Iqra Ahmed would come out at this time and would introduce her girlfriend to her uncle and aunt. Cast As of 2019, there are three original cast members (from the series 1985 premiere) that are presently on the canvas. They are Adam Woodyatt (Ian Beale), who has played the role without a stop; Gillian Taylforth (Kathy Beale, Ian's mother), who has recently returned from South Africa; and Letitia Dean (Sharon Watts Mitchell), who has made on and off appearances for many years, but is now back in a more permanent basis. June Brown, who plays Dot Cotton Branning, joined the show six months after its premiere, but she is also considered long-term, having been on since 1985 (with a break in between, as Dot was living out of London). Another original character, Michelle Fowler, had returned to the canvas, played by Jenna Russell (she was originally played by actress Susan Tully). It was thought that she would bring a Fowler presence back in a strong Fowler matriarch, in the same vein as her mother, Pauline and her grandmother, Lou, but those plans had never materialized. Michelle would eventually leave the square again in 2018 to go on an extended visit to see Vicki and her partner, Spencer in Australia, but she left, knowing that she still had her family in Walford, after coming to terms with what she had been through. Jenna Russell left the show as there was quite a lack of story written for Michelle. The current Fowler matriarch is Stacey. After the death of Dr. Harold Legg (another original character), two other original characters reprised their roles for one episode, namely Punk Mary Smith (Linda Davidson) and Lofty Holloway (Tom Watt) who returned for the doctor's memorial service. During her absence from the square, Mary had shed her punk makeup permanently and made a reasonable life for herself with her daughter. Mary's daughter, Annie, who had been an infant when they were first in the square, was also on hand. Annie was now in her thirties and was a top ranking police officer. Mary and Lofty reunited with their old friends and reminisced about Dr. Legg with Dot and the rest of the pub, old and new. To help out, Sonia and Bex would go around the square and get everyone to draw their shades and blinds, in the best Jewish tradition. Mary would also bring a candle to burn all night in memory of one of Walford's most beloved citizens. Lofty, Michelle Fowler's first husband, now owned several pubs away from the East End, and surprised Martin by giving him a cheque that was for 20,000 quid that was set up for Vicki. It was a secret pact between Michelle and Lofty (who remained friends despite their marriage ended). Keeping Up Appearances connection to Walford Two cast members of the popular British sitcom, Keeping Up Appearances made guest star appearances on EastEnders. The late Mary Millar (she played Rose on KUA) made an appearance as Frank Butcher's sister, Joan, who would move their mother to Colchester, where she lived; also actress Judy Cornwell (who played Rose's sister, Daisy) played nasty Queenie Trott, the ne'er-do-well mother of Heather Trott (Cheryl Fergusson), who had been involved with Carter relative, Babe Smith (Annette Badland) as a baby farmer. Characters Regular Recurring Named Extras Comings & Goings Departing characters Returning characters References C Category:UK Soap operas Category:Shows